February 24 marks the anniversary of the start of the Russian “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine in 2022 which very quickly became a war with the large loss of life both military and civil, with the displacement of population, and a crackdown on opposition to the war. For three years, the war has continued, lap after lap. Although there were fears that the war might spread to neighboring countries, the fighting has been focused on Ukraine, and more recently on a small part of Russian territory attacked by Ukrainian forces. Can there be a realistic end to the armed conflict in sight?
On February 18, 2025, the United States (U.S.) Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, met and discussed in part ending the armed conflict in Ukraine. They discussed a possible Putin-Trump summit that could be held in Saudi Arabia. Earlier, U.S. Army General Mark Milley had said, “There has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably, in the true sense of the word, not achievable through military means, and therefore, when there is an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved, seize it.”
However, the conflict is not one only between the USA and the Russian Federation; it also involves directly Ukraine. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has stressed strongly that the Ukraine government leadership wants to play a key role in any negotiations. Certain European countries such as France, Germany, Poland and Turkey have been involved in different ways in the conflict as well as in proposing possible avenues of negotiation to bring the conflict to an end. The bargaining process could be lengthy, but also it could be short as there is “handwriting on the wall.”
One key aspect concerns the fate of four Ukrainian areas “annexed” by Russia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia largely controlled by Russian troops. President Putin has said, “These regions had been incorporated by the will of the people into the Russian Federation. This matter is closed forever and is no longer a matter of discussion.” However, the status of Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics is at the core of what President Zelenskyy wants discussed.
(C) Homoatrox
“Made in War” is the mark of origin stamped upon nearly all States. Their size, their shape, their ethnic makeup is the result of wars. There are virtually no frontiers today that are not the results of wars: world wars, colonial struggles, annexations by victors, wars against indigenous populations. States were not created by reasonable negotiations based on ethnic or geographic characteristics. If frontiers can be modified only by the victors in wars, then there must be new imaginative transnational forms of cooperation. What is needed are not new frontiers but new states of mind.
From April 5 to 7, 2023, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was in China and urged that China could play a key role in bringing peace to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. President Xi Jinping had made a very general 12-point peace plan to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict – an indication that China is willing to play a peace-making role. China is probably the only country with the ability to influence Russian policymakers in a peaceful direction.
However, there are long historic and strategic aspects to the current armed conflict. Security crises are deeply influenced both by a sense of history and current perceptions. Thus, the Association of World Citizens (AWC) encourages the development of a renewed security architecture as was envisaged by the Helsinki Final Act and the creation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). There will be much to do to re-create an environment of trust and confidence that has been weakened by this conflict. Nongovernmental Organizations should play an active and positive role.
(C) Bernard J. Henry/AWC
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), warned on February 6, 2025 that there is a serious erosion of respect for international humanitarian law. The ICRC is, through agreements signed with most governments, the chief agency for the respect of the Geneva Conventions, the heart of international humanitarian law.
The armed conflict in Ukraine now spreading to a part of Russia and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, have led to the destruction of medical and educational facilities. Civilians have been directly targeted, prisoners of war abused, and hostages taken – all violations of international humanitarian law.
To this sad record of recent abuses must now be added the situation in Goma and the eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Humanitarian law should be respected by nongovernmental militias such as the M23 in Goma, but they have never signed an agreement to respect the Geneva Conventions. There have been discussions within the ICRC and other humanitarian aid agencies as to the role of nongovernmental militias with respect to international humanitarian law. These are vital discussions as the role of nongovernmental militias has become more frequent in armed conflicts.
The Association of World Citizens (AWC) played a key role in having a coalition of armed groups fighting in Burma to sign the Geneva Conventions. The signature was deposited with the Swiss Government which is the depository power for the Conventions. The signature was considered as only “symbolic” as not involving a government. However, the signature by the militias led to an exchange of prisoners showing that it was taken seriously by the Burmese government.
The AWC has strongly supported the strengthening of international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law is a central core of the broader body of world law. The strengthening of respect for humanitarian law develops a base for the application of international law and such institutions as the World Court.
As Mirjana Spoljaric, a Swiss diplomat before she became President of the ICRC, has stressed, the world society is at a crucial moment. There is a need to reaffirm respect for humanitarian law. Unfortunately, such reaffirmation is not a high priority for most Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Thus, as the AWC has urged, most recently through its appeals of March 2022, October 2023 and October 2024, there is a real possibility for NGOs to take the lead.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The Imburi are spirits that are said to inhabit the forests of Gabon, in Equatorial Africa, and who cry out for those who can hear them at times of impending violence and danger. The Imburi are now crying out loudly on the increasing dangers and forced migration in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo – democratic in name only.
The July 31, 2024 ceasefire agreement – never fully effective – has now been broken. Troops of the Tutsi-led militia known as M23 along with regular military of Rwanda are advancing toward Goma, the capital of North Kivu. The Association of World Citizens has members in Goma who keep us informed of the critical situation there – getting worse each day.
(C) UN News
People in the neighboring province of South Kivu are frightened and have started to flee. There are a large number of displaced persons in both North and South Kivu, and some have fled across the frontier into Burundi. Many people are living in displaced persons camps in difficult situations despite the efforts of the United Nations (UN), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and humanitarian aid organizations.
This eastern area of the Congo has been the scene of fighting at least since 1998 – in part as a result of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994. In mid-1994, more than one million Rwandan Hutu refugees poured into the Kivus, fleeing the advance of the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, which now comprises the government of Rwanda. Many of these Hutu were still armed, among them the “génocidaires” who, a couple of months before, had participated in the killing of some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda.
Today, there is still large-scale occurrence of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by all parties with massive displacement of populations, plundering of villages, systematic rape of women, summary executions and the use of child soldiers. There is a report from the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo of December 27, 2024 which outlines clearly the disintegrating situation.
Thus, there is a need to create an enabling political environment which would help develop the rule of law and a vital civil society – a vast task that the Imburi are not sure will be carried quickly enough.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The January 20, 2025 inauguration of President Donald Trump has brought into sharp focus the turbulent and complex world society in which we live. As peacebuilders and citizens of the world, we face the same challenges as President Trump but with a different style and with far fewer resources at our command. We make plans but then are called to work for conflict resolution in unanticipated ways.
There are four policy challenges which face both President Trump and World Citizens: armed conflicts, currently ongoing and potential, persistent poverty in many areas, the erosion of international law and faith in multinational institutions, particularly the United Nations (UN), and the consequences of climate change.
The ongoing and potential armed conflicts are neither new nor unexpected. The Israeli-Palestinian tensions exist at least since 1936 and increased after the creation of the State of Israel. There may be some possibilities for negotiations in good faith. We must keep an eye open for possible actions.
Tensions with Iran are not new. The Soviet forces in part of Iran was the first conflict with which the UN had to deal in its early days. However, the rule by the Ayatollahs has made matters more complex.
The Russian-Ukrainian war grinds on with a large number of persons killed, wounded, and uprooted. Again, we must look to see if a ceasefire and negotiations are possible.
In Asia, the armed conflict in Myanmar between the military in power and the ethnic militias dates from the creation of the Burmese State at the end of the Second World War. A potential armed conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan dates from 1949 and the Nationalist government’s retreat to Taiwan. The potential armed conflict between the two Korean States dates from 1950 and the start of the Korean War.
The armed conflicts in Africa are no longer in the headlines, but they date from the early 1960s and the breakup of the European Empires: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the States of the Sahel.
Thus, we all have a poor record of armed conflict prevention and mediation. Armed conflicts should remain at the top of both the governmental and nongovernmental agenda for action.
(C) U.S. Embassy France on Instagram
Persistent Poverty: Despite the UN Decades for Development, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone is entitled to the economic, social, and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and free development of his personality, persistent poverty exists in many parts of the world. One consequence of persistent poverty is migration from poorer to richer areas, both within countries and from poorer to richer States. Migration is a hotly debated issue in many countries, as right-wing nationalist groups make anti-migration their battle cry. Migration is likely to become an even more heated topic of debate as President Trump tries to carry out his proposal for a mass deportation of immigrants from the USA.
Linked to persistent poverty are trade issues and the protectionist trends in many countries. President Trump has proposed higher tariffs for good coming into the USA. This policy may set off tariff wars. Obviously to counter persistent poverty, world development policies must be improved – easier said than done!
The Erosion of International Law and Faith in Multinational Institutions: Armed conflicts and persistent poverty are closely related to the third issue: the receding United States (U.S.) involvement with the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the World Court and other multinational organizations. Some of the foreign policy authorities appointed by President Trump are overtly critical of the UN and the International Criminal Court. There has already been an Executive Order to halt U.S. funding of the World Health Organization. However, there is no unifying vision of what a new world society would involve. The battle cry of “Make America Great Again”, if repeated by each State for itself, “Make Panama Great Again”, could be a loud concert but not conducive to positive decision making.
The Consequences of Climate Change: The fourth major group of issues concerns the consequences of climate change and the ways to lessen its impact. During the campaign for the presidency, Trump threatened to pull the USA out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and he has now signed an Executive Order doing so. The issue of climate change has been brought to the world agenda by scientists on the one hand, and by Nongovernmental Organizations and popular, often youth-led efforts, on the other hand. It is likely that these vital efforts related to climate change will continue despite climate policy resistance by some in the Trump administration.
President Trump said during his inaugural ceremony that “The Golden Age of America begins now… We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history.” We will have to watch closely and judge in four years. What is sure for peacebuilders and citizens of the world is that we stand on the verge of four more years of serious challenges. Thus, there is a need for cooperative and courageous action.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Edward Said, the late Palestinian-American scholar (and my Princeton University classmate), said, “Writing is the final resistance that we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.”
Today, we see inhumanity, injustice, and armed violence in the wider Middle East: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen with an impact in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
In many of these Middle East conflicts, there were no contacts to be cut. The process of creating contacts must start from point zero. Thus, peacebuilders must develop political legitimacy by trying to develop contacts with politically active groups and by bringing in new voices such as feminist constituencies. There is a need to engage conflicting parties – governments, armed groups and militias – so that there can be negotiations in good faith and an end to armed conflicts. The increasingly complex nature of conflicts requires diverse forms and levels of peacebuilding. This complexity makes the remaking of communications difficult. There needs to be flexibility, innovation, and cooperation.
A poster of Edward Said on the West Bank separation wall in Ramallah, Palestine (C) Justin McIntosh
Both formal and informal efforts are needed to create a web of alternative approaches with the ability to seize the initiative when there is an opportunity for action. Our focus here is on informal approaches which can be carried out by Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the Association of World Citizens (AWC).
Social media is a recent form of contact beyond the older face-to-face approach. Social media has become an important mobilizing force. It can drive debates and political change, but it can also be used to divide societies, incite violence and xenophobia. For peacebuilders, social media allows direct access to the general public. Thus, for peacebuilders, they need to learn to use social media creatively.
For NGOs such as the AWC, the first step is an analysis of the nature and the parties in the conflict. Information can be gathered from people already active on the issue such as academics and members of other NGOs. For the wider Middle East conflicts, there are citizens from these countries living in Europe and the U.S.A. as well as persons who visit Middle East countries regularly. It is important to get a wide range of views. For organizations such as the AWC, with consultative status at the United Nations (UN), it is possible to discuss with UN Secretariat members and with diplomats.
Resolving armed conflicts and lowering persistent tensions involves a change in the attitudes that are at the core of the conflict. We work to create possibilities for dialogue and confidence-building so as to increase mutual trust. Remaking contacts is a way of facilitating better communications between leaders holding antagonistic views, thus promoting cross-cultural communications. As we begin 2025 with tensions in the Middle East at a high level, creative action is needed. Join in this vital process.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
L’ASSOCIATION OF WORLD CITIZENS APPELLE A UNE ASSISTANCE INFORMATIQUE IMMEDIATE POUR LIBERER LES PRISONNIERS DE SYRIE ENTERRES VIVANTS PAR LE REGIME ASSAD
Paris, France 10 décembre 2024 Journée internationale des Droits Humains
L’Association of World Citizens (AWC), Organisation Non-Gouvernementale dotée du Statut Consultatif auprès de l’ONU et active à ce titre au sein du Conseil des Droits de l’Homme, s’alarme d’apprendre de ses sources en Syrie qu’un nombre considérable de détenus dans les prisons jadis dirigées par le régime sont pris au piège dans leurs cellules car le système informatique permettant l’ouverture des portes est bloqué et ne peut être ramené sous contrôle.
A la prison de sinistre mémoire de Sednaya et en d’autres endroits, les combattants de la liberté qui viennent de libérer la Syrie de cinquante-cinq ans de règne dictatorial et dynastique de la famille Assad ont découvert de nombreuses personnes détenues, la plupart pour de pures raisons politiques, dans des cellules dont l’ouverture est gérée électroniquement et se trouve aujourd’hui bloquée au-delà de toute réparation possible par des spécialistes combattant dans leurs rangs. Le résultat en est que ces détenus arrivent à court de nourriture ou d’oxygène, quand ce n’est pas des deux, chaque instant les rapprochant plus encore, bien entendu, de la mort.
L’AWC appelle toutes les institutions internationales, toutes les ONG compétentes et tous les gouvernements nationaux à apporter en urgence toute assistance informatique possible au mouvement de libération syrien et d’aider à sauver ces détenus d’une mort que leur causeraient des ordinateurs programmés, à l’évidence, par leurs anciens maîtres pour incarner la vicieuse cruauté du régime même après sa chute.
Bernard Henry Officier des Relations Extérieures
Cherifa Maaoui Officier de Liaison, Afrique du Nord & Moyen-Orient
Genocide is the most extreme consequence of racial discrimination and ethnic hatred. Genocide has as its aim the destruction, wholly or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such. The term was proposed by the legal scholar Raphael Lemkin, drawing on the Greek genos (people or tribe) and the Latin –cide (to kill) (1). The policies and war crimes of the Nazi German government were foremost on the minds of those who drafted the Genocide Convention, but the policy was not limited to the Nazis (2).
The Genocide Convention is a landmark in the efforts to develop a system of universally accepted standards which promote an equitable world order for all members of the human family to live in dignity. Four articles are at the heart of this Convention and are here quoted in full to understand the process of implementation proposed by the Association of World Citizens (AWC), especially of the need for an improved early warning system.
Article I
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Unlike most humanitarian international law which sets out standards but does not establish punishment, Article III sets out that the following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide
Article IV
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
Article VIII
Any Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.
Raphael Lemkin (C) Center for Jewish History, New York City
Numerous reports have reached the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) of actual, or potential, situations of genocide: mass killings; cases of slavery and slavery-like practices, in many instances with a strong racial, ethnic, and religious connotation — with children as the main victims, in the sense of article II (b) and (c). Despite factual evidence of these genocides and mass killings as in Sudan, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and in other places, no Contracting Party to the Genocide Convention has called for any action under article VIII of the Convention.
As Mr. Nicodème Ruhashyankiko of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities wrote in his study of proposed mechanisms for the study of information on genocide and genocidal practices “A number of allegations of genocide have been made since the adoption of the 1948 Convention. In the absence of a prompt investigation of these allegations by an impartial body, it has not been possible to determine whether they were well-founded. Either they have given rise to sterile controversy or, because of the political circumstances, nothing further has been heard about them.”
Yet the need for speedy preventive measures has been repeatedly underlined by UN Officials. On December 8, 1998, in his address at UNESCO, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said “Many thought, no doubt, that the horrors of the Second World War — the camps, the cruelty, the exterminations, the Holocaust — could not happen again. And yet they have, in Cambodia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Rwanda. Our time — this decade even — has shown us that man’s capacity for evil knows no limits. Genocide — the destruction of an entire people on the basis of ethnic or national origins — is now a word of our time, too, a stark and haunting reminder of why our vigilance must be eternal.”
In her address Translating words into action to the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1998, the then High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Mary Robinson, declared “The international community’s record in responding to, let alone preventing, gross human rights abuses does not give grounds for encouragement. Genocide is the most flagrant abuse of human rights imaginable. Genocide was vivid in the minds of those who framed the Universal Declaration, working as they did in the aftermath of the Second World War. The slogan then was ‘never again’. Yet genocide and mass killing have happened again — and have happened before the eyes of us all — in Rwanda, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and other parts of the globe.”
In a telegram sent from Paris in December 1948, Raphael Lemkin asked Ms. William Dick Sporberg, a member of the United States Committee for a United Nations (UN) Genocide Convention, to organize a cable campaign to persuade the United States Mission to the UN to support the adoption of the convention. Until the very last minute, no efforts were to be spared if the Genocide Convention was to come to existence and make the hopes of a whole generation traumatized by wide-scale extermination come true. (C) Google Cultural Institute/Center for Jewish History
We need to heed the early warning signs of genocide. Officially directed massacres of civilians of whatever numbers cannot be tolerated, for the organizers of genocide must not believe that more widespread killing will be ignored. Yet killing is not the only warning sign. The Convention drafters, recalling the radio addresses of Hitler and the constant flow of words and images, set out as punishable acts “direct and public incitement to commit genocide”. The Genocide Convention, in its provisions concerning public incitement, sets the limits of political discourse. It is well documented that public incitement — whether by Governments or certain non-governmental actors, including political movements — to discriminate against, to separate forcibly, to deport or physically eliminate large categories of the population of a given State, or the population of a State in its entirety, just because they belong to certain racial, ethnic, or religious groups, sooner or later leads to war. It is also evident that, at the present time, in a globalized world, even local conflicts have a direct impact on international peace and security in general. Therefore, the Genocide Convention is also a constant reminder of the need to moderate political discourse, especially constant and repeated accusations against a religious, ethnic, and social category of persons. Had this been done in Rwanda, with regard to the Radio Mille Collines, perhaps that premeditated and announced genocide could have been avoided or mitigated.
For the UN to be effective in the prevention of genocide, there needs to be an authoritative body which can investigate and monitor a situation well in advance of the outbreak of violence. As has been noted, any Party to the Genocide Convention (and most States are Parties) can bring evidence to the UN Security Council, but none has. In the light of repeated failures and due to pressure from nongovernmental organizations, the Secretary-General has named an individual advisor on genocide to the UN Secretariat. However, he is one advisor among many, and there is no public access to the information that he may receive.
Therefore, a relevant existing body must be strengthened to be able to deal with the first signs of tensions, especially “direct and public incitement to commit genocide.” The Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) created to monitor the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination would be the appropriate body to strengthen, especially by increasing its resources and the number of UN Secretariat members which service the CERD. Through its urgent procedure mechanisms, CERD has the possibility of taking early-warning measures aimed at preventing existing strife from escalating into conflicts, and to respond to problems requiring immediate attention. A stronger CERD more able to investigate fully situations should mark the world’s commitment to the high standards of world law set out in the Genocide Convention.
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Notes
1) Raphael Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe (Washington: Carnegie Endowment for World Peace, 1944)
2) For a good overview, see: Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (New York: Basic Books, 2002)
3) E/CN.4/Sub.2/1778/416, Para 61
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The ceasefire between Israeli troops and the Hezbollah militia is good news in an area deep in armed conflicts. After a year-long period of hostilities, we must strive so that the ceasefire holds, becomes permanent, and that the United Nations (UN) forces are able to carry out their mandate.
The ceasefire between Israeli forces and those of Hezbollah started at 4 AM on November 27, 2024, a conflict that has killed some 4,000 people, displaced more than one million in Lebanon and some 60,000 in Israel. As the ceasefire started, some Lebanese were already starting to return to their homes at day light although many houses in villages near the frontier have been destroyed.
The “Cessation of Hostilities” text which sets out the terms of the ceasefire calls for the ability of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line (the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel) to return safely to their lands and homes.
The ceasefire was negotiated by diplomats from the USA and France. Amos Hochstein was the lead United States (U.S.) negotiator. The U.S. and France will continue to have diplomats to follow the ceasefire process and to deal with any violations or unsolved tensions. There have already been accusations of violations of the ceasefire by both sides. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – some 10,000 soldiers, will again be able to control the Blue Line frontier. There is currently discussion on adding members to the UN force.
The ceasefire was able to be developed as there was a convergence of interests among leaders in Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran which is a strong supporter of Hezbollah. Many in Israel, including in the active military, are exhausted by the armed conflicts and must continue operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Lebanon faces economic and political difficulties provoking a growth of the already strong sectarian tensions. Hezbollah’s military and leadership has been seriously weakened by Israeli actions. However, the movement continues, and new leaders are coming to the fore such as Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah deputy in the Lebanese Parliament. With a new Iranian President and a new U.S. administration, Iran’s leaders may want to see what policies President Trump will develop toward Iran.
Turning the 60-day ceasefire into a permanent peace accord will not be an easy task. There are territorial disputes along the Blue Line which have not been solved in the past, a consequence of the 2006 war. Today, all the parties lack peace-oriented leaders. As noted, the ceasefire is in the current interest of all the leaders, but such situations can change due to internal political factors.
Thus, there is an opportunity for Nongovernmental Organizations to continue promotion of a permanent ceasefire and to advance stability for the region. It is an opportunity for which we must organize with others.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Sudan’s armed conflict which began on April 15, 2023 is between two former allies. On one side is General Abdel Fattah Al Burham of the Sudanese Armed Forces; on the other side is General Mohamed Hamdan Dagulo, known by his battle name of Hemedhi of the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict, which has spread to 14 of the 18 provinces of Sudan, has killed and wounded tens of thousands of civilians, displaced nearly 8 million people, and forced over two million to flee to neighboring countries. The agriculture of the country is disorganized, and many people face acute hunger.
There has been an appalling range of human rights and international humanitarian law violations including indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling against civilians, hospitals, and vital water services. The warring parties and their respective militia allies have made rape a weapon of war and have organized markets where women are sold for sexual slavery.
Rape harms not only the woman raped but also the whole family system. Often, the husband repudiates his wife. The whole family may scorn her. In a country where “the family” is a wide circle of people, the repudiated woman has few people to whom to turn for support. As was done by the “Islamic State” (IS, or Da’esh) in Iraq and Syria, sexual slave markets have been created where women are bought or exchanged.
So far, efforts by the United Nations (UN) and regional governments for a ceasefire and negotiations have not led to constructive action. Thus, the conflictual situation requires close cooperation among UN agencies, humanitarian and peace Nongovernmental Organizations.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Association of World Citizens 